These portraits were actually produced back in 2008, but the recent news that King Richard the Third's remains had been found under a Leicester car park reminded me that I've yet to show them here. Actually, the discovery has left me quite giddy, so any excuse to paint ol' Richard is fine by me!

Nine portraits in total, these were produced for the player cards of Columbia Games' tabletop war game 'Richard III', originally titled 'The Wars of the Roses'. I was pretty darn ecstatic to have been asked to do these at the time, as The Wars of the Roses was, and still is, an interest of mine (Probably the only person overly excited about seeing an empty field when visiting Bosworth).

The game is exactly what you'd expect of the title; a prolonged and not-so-friendly tussle between the rival houses of Lancaster and York (split red and white roses respectively). The map in the background was designed (once again) by the ever talented game art designer & cartographer Mark Mahaffey ~west2 (drop by his page sometime, you won't regret it!). As I don't own a sample of this particular game myself (much to my chagrin), the remaining photo / card graphics are player uploads from the stash over on the BoardGameGeek forums.

Again, I enjoyed working on these as much as I did the Blackbeard portraits. If it's my forte, it's more fun!

- - - - Ordering:

Richard III is still available to purchase from the order page, which can be reached via Columbia Games here: [link] with some previews of the graphics having been posted for viewing here: [link]

Well, this all goes back to Henry VIII and his dissolution of the monasteries. Many friaries, churches, monasteries and convents had their financial assets taken away. As a result, many fell to ruin, were demolished and lost to the sands of time, which is what happened to Greyfriars Church (Richard's resting place). Finding out where the old church would once have been would have taken some research.

The same thing has happened to several other monarchs over the centuries. It was never that unusual.

Well that's a shame. If I were royalty the least I'd expect is for my subjects to know what hole in the ground they stuck my body in. Oh well. I guess he can't really complain too much.....him being dead and all.

He wasn't really a jerk to be honest (other than being accused of murder... hurr hurr). The people of York genuinely liked him and he did several good things, but the Lancastrians were not fans and they were the ones cheering 'hooray' on the battlefield that day.

I went to one of the websites that showed the excavation of the skeleton.One could say those Tudor soldiers were no fan of his!Was Richard III consideredthat nefarious by future generations?Allso according to the Shakespeare play atthe battle of Bosworth did he actually call out "My kingdom for a horse!"

Richard was only considered a tyrant because that was the picture that the Tudors wanted to paint of him. They had much to lose, primarily the throne itself, if Richard had been seen in a good light. However, we can't say for sure if Richard was all good or bad, because the evidence is so lacking. What we can say is that history is definitely written by the victors and every monarch throughout history has hardly been a saint.

"My kingdom for a horse!" is pure Shakespeare and uttered in a moment when Richard is seen desperately looking for a way out of his situation. In reality, even the Tudors confess that his died bravely and the noise of such a scuffle would have been so loud, it's a wonder if anyone could hear anyone shouting anything!

Youre defintely right.I went on the internet and looked up that period ofenglish history.I learned that the conflict was referedto as the War of the Roses.The condition of Richard'sskeleton shows the effects of 10 major wounds!I allsosaw the forensic reconstruction of his face based on theskull.He was rather handsome fellow!

Forgive me i forgot to leave a comment on your picture.I love the detail you imparted into your portrait of Richard III Your work brings history to life.

Oooh, really? I have not heard or read of this news. Definitely an article I have to dig up... Speaking of which, I am glad you dug this up and shared it with us! I had begun to miss seeing your lovely sketches, Chessypoo. <333

Whaaaaaaat? Really? The media went completely crazy over this, internationally too. It's just insane to find a lost king after so long... really unlikely. Of course, now they'll have to get to finding the others too... and Joan of Arc's ashes. Ha ha. XD

Well now, you can't keep penguins in the fridge for too long, else they'll turn pink, you know?

Alison! I should have known you'd be the first to comment on this, ha ha (and to steal Richard). XD Yeah, Medieval aloof dudes and their livery collars... they just love to show off all that *bling!* XD